Page 56 of Wolves Always Bite

“Girl.Ithought you like boy.”

Surprisedby her answer,Isnorted out a laugh. “Ido like boys.”

“Sono girlfriend?Shesteal cat?”Mrs.Kozaksounded pissed.

Iswallowed and shook my head. “Itis okay,Mrs.K.Ifyou see her again, it’s better you don’t try to stop her.She’sa crazy one.”

“Stalker?Isee them onTV.Badpeople.”

“Somethinglike that.”Mrs.Kozakwas safe, butClawie…Isqueezed my eyes shut and hoped the pain in my chest would ease. “Don’tworry about it,Mrs.K.It’llbe okay.”

“Tellme when you get cat back.”

“Iwill.Thankyou,Mrs.Kozak.”

Shehung up.Iclicked back to the pictureBabettehad sent.Myhand shook.

“Hangin there,Clawie, love.Daddy’scoming for you,”Iwhispered asIpetted the screen. “Ican’t believe she catnapped you.”

Adrianfrowned. “Doesn’tcatnap mean to have a nap?”

“Don’targue with me, wolf boy.Youknow whatImean.”

Adrianopened his mouth like he was about to say something but stopped when another message popped up on my phone.Weboth looked at the screen.

BossLady:Giveme my boxes and you’ll get your cat back.Don’tandI’llget rid of this one.ThenI’llstart collecting the rest of your pathetic family one by one until you realize how seriousIam.Youwill do whatIsay either way.

Ragesurged through me.Howdare she take my cat?Howdare she threaten my family?Iwiped the tears from my eyes.

“Thatbitch has gone too far.”Icracked my knuckles. “Weneed a chainsaw.”

Adrian’sforehead wrinkled in confusion.Obviously, he wasn’t aLimpBizkitfan.Notthat my parents were either—“BreakStuff” was a little later than their usual favorites—but they’d been determined to give us a well-rounded musical upbringing.Andit was definitely time to break some shit—likeBabette’sfingers for touchingClawie.

ChapterEighteen

ADRIAN

Aftera rather heated discussion withAsh, where he had essentially called me a stupid wolf,Jeremydecided to let his friend drive us to the city.AndwhereAshwent,Dillonwent too.So, an hour after readingBabette’sthreat, the four of us were inAsh’struck making our way to the city.ItextedGagean update and we agreed that the rest of the team didn’t need to join us atJeremy’sapartment right away.Ifthe goblin set a trap, the hellhound, fire mage andIshould be able to deal with it.

“Ash, country music?Really?”Jeremymoaned asAshcranked the radio.

“WhatcanIsay?It’sgrown on me sinceImoved here,”Ashsaid. “BesidesDollyandGarthhave to be better than the ‘80s fluff your parents always played when they drove us around.”

“Notby much,” my little human muttered as he dug in his backpack.Hepulled out his notebook, and with pen in hand, he looked at me. “Sincewe have some time to kill on the drive,Ithink it’s time for everyone to answer some of my questions.”

“Itold you this would happen,”Ashwhispered to his boyfriend, who was sitting in the passenger seat in the front.

Jeremyignored them and turned his attention to me.

“Dosilver bullets kill werewolves?”

“It’sthe same when a human is struck by a bullet.Itdepends on where you’re hit.”

Jeremylet out an exaggerated sigh like he thoughtIwas being difficult, then scribbled something in his notebook. “Whatabout silver specifically?Canyou touch it?”

“Ican, butIwouldn’t be able to touch it for a long time.IfItry wearing silver against my skin,Iget a rash, but the reaction isn’t instantaneous.”

Jeremysquished up his nose and he wrote down something. “Silverdoes the same thing to my mom, so that isn’t a definite confirmation of the myth.”